This collection contains rank-and-file organizers' records relating to the successful campaign to unionize the Lusty Lady
Theater in San Francisco, California. In addition to standard union issues such as pay, grievance procedure, hours, benefits
and time off, this collection documents issues specific to exotic dancers, such as management rankings and rewards based on
dancers’ attractiveness, privacy violations resulting from one-way glass windows and patrons’ unauthorized filming of dancers,
and safety concerns. Materials include union and management flyers to employees and patrons, correspondence (including letters
of support for the union), clippings, union meeting notes, notes refuting management arguments, National Labor Relations Board
case documents, pamphlets, draft versions of the first collective bargaining agreement, and union meeting announcements. Also
includes a copy of the manual "No Justice, No Piece! A Working Girl's Guide to Labor Organizing in the Sex Industry" (62 pages).

Background

In 1996 dancers at the Lusty Lady Theater in San Francisco brought their concerns about the club’s one-way glass windows to
their managers. Dancers were being filmed and photographed by amateur pornographers without their knowledge or permission,
which was not only exploitative but a violation of privacy. The club had a “no cameras” policy but it was not enforced. When
management didn’t respond to dancers’ requests to remove the one-way glass, workers contacted the Exotic Dancers Alliance
(EDA) in San Francisco. The EDA brought the workers together with Local 790 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
and convinced the union’s organizing staff to get involved.

Extent

0.4 cubic ft.
(1 box)

Restrictions

Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives and Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the Labor Archives and Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.